>Cathy, thanks for the scoop on the HC system. I wondered, are the subjects
>you warn visiters of discussing, very much discussed among Canadians. In
>popular news mags, national, regional papers. Is it a campaign issue?
>
It's constantly debated but in the media, it's always portrayed as 'Can our
healthcare system be saved?' blah, blah given the debt crisis, blah, blah.
What's been happening lately is fingerpointing between federal and
provincial gov'ts (the feds pay the bulk, but the provinces administer the
funds) - not an unusual sight in itself (power has been massively
decentralized and each province, not just Quebec, has declared itself a
unique culture - this is, of course, great for the global powers that be).
But it's sort of like the reverse of the divide and conquer of us to the
divide and confuse of them. Since we don't know who to blame - maybe there
is something wrong with the system. Recently two (relatively progressive)
provincial premiers have played a sly little game on the federal government
'Here', they said to the (federal) prime minister, you take over
administering healthcare and see if you can do a better job. Needless to
say, this stunned everyone and the media still hasn't figured out a way to
put a nice right-wing spiel to this.
Also, I should clarify. To most Canadians, all strangers can criticize our healthcare system - EXCEPT Americans (they don't know all you progressive American folks exist). This is the reason I called it a 'nationalized' healthcare system as opposed to a socialized one - because it has more of a 'nationalistic' ideology attached to it than a socialistic one. If you ask any Canadian who has been massively inundated with American culture (hell, we couldn't even tell you now what that is), what makes Canadians unique they will say two things: our healthcare system and we hate guns (except for some serious yahoos in certain 'culturally unique' parts of the country). This is what 'nationalism' is here and it is explicitly anti-American. The nightmare experienced by Marta and the suicide of that man on the bridge over treatment by his HMO are all known here - people love telling stories like that - we're so superiour (bleck!). Obviously, if we did develop a truly socialized healthcare system, we may be the next Iraq.
>Back in early 90's I heard that part of the trade agreement signed by
>Kinnock, or whatever that conservative guys name was, was a change in the
>way pharmacuetical patents were treated. That C. patents had lasted seven
>years, but would now last 21 yrs, as with US patents on drugs. I heard
>that this act alone had greatly escalated costs. Familiar with this? I
>wonder if that was a public debate.
Actually, this was changed in the late '80s by Mr. Smooth (now most hated
man in Canada) Brian Mulroney. The Liberals, who were in opposition at the
time told us (I worked for an anti-poverty group at the time) that this
would be rectified when they got into power. Oh, big shock, it wasn't. And,
of course, now NAFTA has 'tied their hands' (somehow as a feminist I should
get off on the image of all these male politicians with their hands tied -
but guess I'm just too damn political). While we fought like hell against
the changes, the public outcry wasn't that great. I haven't actually seen
the figures on costs of drugs since the Pharmaceutical Bill was passed. I
know that in my province, if your medication bill is over $200 a year,
there is some supplemental program (I believe the gov't pays the rest). And
there are tax breaks as well. So, the brunt of the costs here at least is
bore by the govt. That's being undermined as well (in one province, people
have to now pay for their insulin which was previously covered).
>
>
>Incidently, I've had to pay for everything that helped me. In addition to
>my own, non-deductable insurance premiums. My mother's family were
>canucks, which I think must be derogatory as I remember my father using it.
> Maybe they'd let me back into Canada, heh?
Drop the 'h' from 'heh' and give it a try. We've been trying to smuggle
sick American friends in for years. Yeah, we can call ourselves canucks (we
even named a hockey team that, grunt grunt!) but it is sorta like the 'n'
word for African Americans.
>
>As far as Canadian's being boring-not in my limited exposure. No matter
>where I've been on vacation, it seems that if ya run into some Canadians,
>you'll find a cooler place to stay, better places to eat, etc, and for much
>less money. I always try to hang with Canadians when I'm away from home.
>
I take it back then - we're cool, good diners, and cheap. In case you
didn't pick it up from your Canadian friends, we have a bit of a colonial
mentality here. Self-effacement is second nature (do you know how many
Canadian comedians have invaded your country - okay, we can be imperialist
too).
Hope your cats are okay.
Cathy